


Time, Curious Time

by darlingsdarling



Series: The Folklore Series [1]
Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Divergence, Canon Divergence - Post-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor Harry Potter, F/M, Pre Epilouge, Professor!Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:13:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28763136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darlingsdarling/pseuds/darlingsdarling
Summary: “I haven’t told Ginny yet, but I’m quitting. I’ve caught enough bad guys, I’ve won enough wars. I’m done fighting. I know I don’t have much experience teaching, but if you’re still doing interviews, I’d like to give it a shot.”
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Series: The Folklore Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102217
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	Time, Curious Time

**Author's Note:**

> Harry Potter spends the rest of his life as a wizard cop? 
> 
> Not on my watch.

**April 18th, 2004**

The last time Harry was on the grounds of Hogwarts, it was a battleground. He didn’t quite understand how they had erased all the carnage as well as they did. 

It all looked so normal. 

The office was just as he remembered it: the relics, the knickknacks, scattered papers and scrolls on every available surface. There was a strange sort of comfort in the persistent clutter that remained the same over the years. Fawkes perched happily upon the Headmaster’s desk. The only real difference Harry could spot was a new portrait, Albus Dumbledore, with his nose stuck in an unmarked leather book, didn’t even notice him as he entered the room. Silver hair against red robes, he resembled Godric Gryffindor more than the headmaster Harry once knew. 

“Mr. Potter,” Just like the headmaster’s office, McGonagall looked the same as she always did. Her sharp eyes catching every imperceptible movement, a tight smile appeared on her lips. “I was beginning to think I had been forgotten about.” 

“Professor,” 

She rose from her chair, long strides so even she nearly floated above the stone beneath her. Her gloved hands met his shoulders, holding him at arm’s length. “It has been too long, young man.” 

“I know, the time has just…” His eyes flashed to the Pensive he stood over in Sixth year. The labeled memories scrawled in Dumbledores handwriting were collecting dust in their containers. He doubted anyone had touched them since he had back when everything was so big. So important. “The time has escaped me.” 

McGonagall nodded, “Age tends to do that to us all. Do sit, the biscuits in the tray are fresh. I had them brought up this morning.” She gestured to the chair across from her desk. 

How many hours had he spent in that chair as a child? 

She cleared her throat, “I hear congratulations are in order. How is young James Sirius?” 

“Honestly,” He smiled. “He’s perfect. I would’ve brought him along, but you know Molly, she hardly lets him out of her sight. You’d think he was hers. She’s spoiled him already. I don’t know why I expected any different; she did the exact same with Teddy.” 

McGonagall shook her head, lines forming in the corners of her eyes. “And Ginny?” 

“Perfect as well,” When wasn’t she perfect? “Exhausted, but so am I. The Harpies are already asking when she’ll be back as if she didn’t give birth three weeks ago. She’s already trying to train again.” 

His mind flashed to Ginny sitting in her rocking chair a few nights earlier. James sleeping in her arms in a bundle of orange yarn knitted by Molly Weasley herself. He was adorable when he slept- if he ever slept, but Ginny’s eyes were trained on her Nimbus in the corner untouched since she discovered she was pregnant. Every inch of her was itching to fly again. Ginny Weasley was not meant to sit still for weeks on end. The woman was raised with more brothers than she could keep track of the sudden stagnation of raising a newborn was still foreign to her. 

To both of them. 

Andromeda had dealt with all the difficult parts of raising Teddy. While he changed his fair share of diapers and spent countless nights babysitting, Harry was only seventeen when his godson was born. He was in no position to be a parent back then. It took months of pleading to convince her years later that he and Ginny could handle raising a child. 

Harry was determined to be a good and proper godfather. 

“And what brings you to Hogwarts? Is this Ministry business?” McGonagall said grabbing his attention once again. Her eyes fell to the Ministry Crest embroidered on the breast of his robes. 

There is was. 

“No. Almost the opposite actually,” Harry took a sharp breath in. Should he be this nervous? “Dawlish is retiring soon, and apparently, I’m his pick for Head of the Department. A few years ago, I would have taken up on the offer but now that we have James, now that Teddy is with us full time.” He swallowed, “My Dad went down fighting before I had a single memory of him. I can’t do that to my kids. I just can’t.” 

He scanned the familiar room again, trying to find each artifact Hermione had read to him from Hogwarts: A History. There should be a Dragonsbreath Goblet somewhere. “I heard you were looking for someone to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position,” Harry said finally. 

Realization dawned across the Headmaster’s face, eyebrows rising over the rims of her half-moon glasses. “That is true,” 

“I haven’t told Ginny yet, but I’m quitting. I’ve caught enough bad guys, I’ve won enough wars. I’m done fighting. I know I don’t have much experience teaching, but if you’re still doing interviews, I’d like to give it a shot.” 

Minerva McGonagall pursed her lips. “I see. I was speaking to a fellow from Romania. Funnily enough, it was your brother-in-law that passed along his information.” She slid her glasses from her nose. “However, if you’re truly interested in the position, I will let him know the vacancy has been filled.” 

Harry furrowed his brow. He had already prepared for the refusal. “You’re serious?” 

“Would you rather I give the job to someone else?” 

“No, I just was expecting,” He rubbed the sweat from his hands on his robes. “I’m not quite sure what I was expecting. I- Thank you.” 

She flicked her hand, sending an enchanted quill into action. “I understand that in your tenure here as a student, you had quite a few Defense Against the Dark Arts Professors. Albus had no issue with this, but I am not interested in hunting down a new instructor every term. This position is yours if you are dedicated to staying here. These children need stability. I will not have their lives uprooted each year.” 

He nodded. Stability was exactly what he was chasing. The thunderous pulse of adventure, hunting down bad guys with nothing more than wit and pure luck was intoxicating. It was an incomparable high. Truly incomparable. But it came at the cost of never being sure you would make it out alive. Each mission Kingsley handed him offered nothing but uncertainty, anxiety that this time, he wouldn’t get the chance to stumble home to Ginny. 

The quill returned to its ink well as the parchment folded itself into thirds. “Are you willing to stick around for these students?” 

“Absolutely.” 

“Well then, Professor.” McGonagall handed him the folded parchment. “Welcome back to Hogwarts. It’s missed you.


End file.
